A soft close to a big week. Royal Commission, iron ore prices, RBA backflips, all helped to push the ASX 200 up 3.5%
for the week. Not a bad result at all. Today we fell 21 points in
modest trade as we head into reporting season for real next week. Banks
were flip-flopping from negative to positive with NAB under pressure due to executive changes, whilst CBA
was in demand ahead of the dividend next week. 200c is highly
attractive. Iron ore miners took a break as China re-opens next week.
Energy stock suffered as crude fell and some funds flowed into
defensives like TLS and GPT. In results, REA announced a write-down, coupled with some negative outlook comments. NWS showed some better numbers on digital subscriptions. The AUD remains under pressure on the change in tone from the RBA with the statement of monetary policy adding to its weakness.

Asian markets slip with Japan down 2.03% and HK down 0.53% whilst China back next week.

STOCKS IN FOCUS

JIN +4.24% keeps pushing higher.

SPT -10.61% profit-taking

BPT -9.67% results next week.

DHG -6.33% catches REA downdraft.

PPH -3.36% broker downgrades.

WEB -4.27% selling resumes.

CYB -5.05% profit taking on broker neutrality.

TTT +6.28% new license agreements

NCK +3.56% broker upgrades on results.

ALL -2.77% overbought.

JMS +3.77% metal price rises.

TLS +1.57% some defensive buying.

NWS +2.73% results boost. Kayo has 100k subscribers now.

Speculative stock of the day: No standouts on low volume.

Biggest Risers – MGX, JIN, JMS, NWL and NWS

Biggest Fallers – BPT, DHG, CYB, REA, BIN and STO

TODAY

REA -4.98% Underlying results look better than
expected but the outlook is grim. Underlying profit up 20% with headline
profit down 98%. Interim dividend of 55c. They talk about market
conditions being unlikely to improve in short term thanks to the federal
election as well as the New South Wales election. Revenue in the second
half they say is slowing with listings down 11% in January and third
quarter costs exceeding the revenue growth rate.

ECONOMIC DATA

The RBA Statement of Monetary Policy (SOMP) has
seen the RBA cut its GDP forecasts from 3.25% to 2.5%. Big change. It
also slashed its inflation forecast to 1.25% from 2%. The reason is the
property market slowdown is significant and adds to the uncertainty. To
access the statement click here.

BOND MARKETS

2-Year bond yields down 4bps to 1.66%

5-Year yields down 7bps to 1.70%

10-Year yields down 9bps to 2.09%

ASIAN NEWS

The king of Thailand’s sister is standing for election in a landmark for the country.

Sony has announced a ¥100bn ($910m) share buyback in the wake of stock price falls.

China back to work next week.

EUROPEAN AND US HEADLINES

Germany has refused to ban Huawei.

Kellyanne Conway has said that the UK will remain America’s closest ally whatever happens with the Brexit negotiations.

The first sign of a rift between Germany and France over a gas pipeline project from Germany to Russia. Nord Stream 2,
which will carry gas direct from Russia to Germany under the Baltic
Sea, makes Europe even more dependent on Russian gas. Not a good thing
according to the French. Nord Stream 2 is outside of the EU territory,
but some are hoping to bring it under EU control.

Brexit 48 days to go. Still a mess.

Finally…………..Thank Al…a classic for the weekend.

I was a very happy man. My wonderful Italian girlfriend and I had been dating for a year, and decided to get married.

There was only one little thing bothering me… it was her beautiful
younger sister. My prospective sister in law was 22 and wore very tight
mini skirts, and generally was bra less. She would regularly bend down
when she was near me,and I always got more than a nice view. It had to
be deliberate.because she never did it when she was near to anybody
else.

One day her little sister called and asked me over to check wedding
invitations. She was alone when I arrived,and she whispered to me that
she had feelings and desires for me that she couldn’t overcome. She told
me that she wanted me just once before I got married and committed my
life to her sister. Well I was in total shock, and couldn’t say a word.

She said I’m going up stairs to my bedroom, and if you want one last
wild fling, just come up and get me. I was stunned and frozen in shock
as I watched her go upstairs.

I stood there for a moment,then turned and made a beeline straight
for the front door. I opened the door, and headed straight towards my
car.

Lo… and behold my entire future family was standing outside, all
clapping. With tears in his eyes, my father in law put down his shotgun
and hugged me and said, “we are very happy you passed our little test”.
We couldn’t ask for a better man for our daughter. Welcome to the
family.

And the Moral of this story is:
Always keep your condoms in your car!

And to Hans

JEWISH MISTRESS

A Jewish man and his wife are having dinner at a very fine restaurant
when an absolutely stunning young woman comes over to their table,
gives the husband a long open mouthed kiss and says to him, “I’ll see
you later”.

“Who the hell was that?” says the wife.

“That was my mistress.” says the husband.

“I want a divorce!” says the wife, “This is the last straw! I’ve had enough.”

The husband says, “Alright! You’ll get your divorce, but just
remember this: There will be no more winters in Barbados, no more
summers in Tuscany, no more shopping trips to Paris, no more Mercedes in
the garage, and no more Yacht Club. But the decision is yours!”

Just then a friend of the husband enters the restaurant with a gorgeous young woman on his arm.